~ affirmations and words to uplift

Monthly Archives: November 2015

One of my favorite movies, and I will confess to watching it at any time of the year, especially in mid-summer when the weather is hot, hot, hot, is “White Christmas.” You all know the movie. The producers went through the catalogue of Irving Berlin songs, created a flimsy story to weave them all together and created a classic.

This lyric has a powerful message and I have to think that when Mr. Berlin was writing it he thought back to his early days of struggle on the lower Eastside of New York City, living as an emigrant and just trying to get by day to day. In the midst of the life he was living at that time stopping to count his blessings had to seem a bit daunting. Daunting – but powerful.

Our recognition of our blessings is powerful. It sets for us a new course, one that before our recognition of those blessings was unknown to us. When we stop to count our blessings we are moving our consciousness to seeing the abundance that we have.

Fall asleep counting your blessing and you will wake in the morning still counting your blessings. It is amazing how that works, but it does.

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)

Recently, when I was in San Anselmo, California, just over the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, I had an interesting thing happen to me. San Anselmo is a small town like Mayberry, from television and one can even think of it like the play “Our Town.” It seems everyone knows everyone else, they say hello to you when they pass on the street, and, for those of us who live in a big city, it can seem like something out of another era. So, as I was walking down the main street one afternoon I suddenly had a very palpable sensation wash over me. I suddenly felt safe. This sensation even surprised me because I don’t ever remember having a conscious feeling of feeling unsafe. But suddenly I felt safe.

It is sad to me that we live in a world that causes us on a deep subjective level to have an undercurrent of fear. We may not think about being fearful all the time, but we do. Either because we watch the TV news and see the heinous things that occur in our world, or the very atmosphere we breathe has a vibration of turmoil.

My second thought, after suddenly feeling unfearful that afternoon, was to think about the book of Isaiah. At least thirteen times in this book we are told to “be not afraid,” or “fear not.” God understood then, and certainly does today, that God’s children can feel threatened by those in the world who have turned against God and against God’s teachings of unconditional love and acceptance.

“Fear not” is a recurring theme in Isaiah. I think that is one of the reasons I love this book so much. This prophet is reminding us over and over again that we are not to be worried or dismayed, that even in the darkest night, in the most turbulent storm, that God is right in that place with us. God is experiencing what we are experiencing. Because God is experiencing everything with us God understands what we need to feel safe once again. God knows our need, our concern and God knows just the perfect individual way to walk us through any dark time.

So, let Isaiah’s words of “fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God,” be your comfort and strength this day and always.

Affirmation: “I do not fear, for God is walking right here with me every step of my journey. I trust in the promises of Spirit God.”

“Jesus said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand?For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light.” (Mark 4: 21-22)

One of my favorites preachers to listen to, or even to read her sermons, is Barbara Brown Taylor. In a sermon I was reading lately she wrote, “We need to restore the power of belief.” And this really stayed with me. Our belief can be such a fragile thing. It can vary in degrees based on what we are experiencing at any given time. And yet, God wants us to continue to believe and to trust in Spirit’s wonderful power for change in our lives no matter what is going on for us.

Our power of belief is our willingness in having a courage that is built on a solid foundation of God. God’s light is eternal and always the same; I firmly believe that. We can diminish our experience of that light and our individual expression of that light, or we can even snuff it out completely. Often we do this because there are simply some things that are painful for us to see and experience. That is a very human thing to do and we mustn’t ever belittle or beat ourselves up when we do that. Some things are painful. Some things simply are uncomfortable and we don’t want to see them, so we pretend they just don’t exist. In the south we called that good ole “Southern Denial.” It’s a practice of pretending, but it bares no resemblance to the truth.

Our power of belief is the place that gives us courage to let loose God’s light within us and shine that light forward with a beam so bright that whatever it exposes we can know we have the ability to handle. Why can we handle it? Because God has not gone anywhere. God is still right here. God was with us then and God is with us now and God will be with us always. Make no mistake. To God that is not negotiable. That is a given. It is a fact and it is a truth beyond all truths.

Affirmation: “With God’s help I will let my life shine out into the world.”

One of my favorite memories of Thanksgiving is when I was in church choir as a little boy. I remember one cold evening we sang a song that was new to me, and it is one that I have always loved since. Not only does it remind me of Thanksgiving, but it always reminds me fondly of that night we learned it. I remember our choir director, a young woman, Evangeline Everett, isn’t that a great name? I will never forget her, as she taught us this song:

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing; He chastens and hastens His will to make known; The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing; Sing praises to His Name; He forgets not His own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining, Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine; So from the beginning the fight we were winning; Thou, Lord, were at our side, all glory be Thine!

We all do extol Thee, Thou Leader triumphant, And pray that Thou still our Defender will be; Let Thy congregation escape tribulation; Thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!

These lyrics can touch us so deeply as we meditate upon them.

We do gather together. We do this in community, the community of the Christ and we are stronger for our union with one another. All God’s children. We hasten and chasen for there is no time to waste.

We proclaim for God/Spirit to be made known through our understanding of God moving in our lives, always available and always right where we need Spirit to be. The wicked oppressing – that is our doubts and our fears, our worries and our times when we feel alone in the world. It is also our hesitation in experiencing fully God’s power and presence and it is our failure to believe we are loved by God unconditionally. And yes, we do praise God’s name from on high as we count the many ways we are grateful.

We gather together as we hold one another in prayerful affirmation of God’s truth. Our prayers, as well as our trust in God, bind with the prayers and trust of others to form a mighty vibration of love and peace that draws positive Spiritual energy and hope to us all.

There is a perfect rhythm of life. The sunset, the sunrise, the tides. The growing of things before the harvest has a certain rhythm of life. First the seed, then the full plant reaching for the sky, followed by the harvest. The spirit of God has a rhythm and we are a part of that perfect rhythm. That rhythm is harmony and peace and it is unconditional love. We are part of that rhythm through our breathing in and our breathing out and we are part of that rhythm through the pulsing of our hearts. Perfect creation, beating in perfect time for the expression of God’s kingdom right here, right where we are at every moment.

Let us gather together in thanksgiving.

Affirmation: “Knowing I am a beautiful part of God’s rhythm of life, peace and harmony just naturally manifest wherever I look.”

It seems I am forever having to recharge one of my electronic devices. The phone, the iPad or the laptop need to be filled again with the energy and current that keeps them working and available to me when needed. I like that I can charge them at any place, at home or at the church, or sometimes even in the car. Keeping the devices charged with some vibration of electronic life makes them available to me for work, enjoyment and even amusement.

So, I was thinking about this in regards to you and me. We also have to take time to recharge and renew ourselves. One of the most exciting ways I have found to do this is to sit in the silence, or with soft meditative sounds playing, and turn within to the presence of God that is always right where I am. Being still, letting go of earthly concerns and thoughts about all that needs to be done, allows me to become refreshed and ready for the next activity I choose to undertake. Often when I feel really tired, unfocused, or just feel separate from the life I wish to experience, I know it is time to stop, connect with Spirit/God and be recharged in the energy and vibration of perfect Divine strength.

When I started this practice I had the mistaken idea that to stop and meditate would take too much time out of my day. That I would have to devote far more time to this practice than I was willing to do. But what I have discovered, through my own discipline of meditation and prayer, and through some wise and caring teachers, is that even a few moments in the silence will have a huge benefit. Yes, I love it when I can spend 30 minutes, an hour, or more in deep silence, but even taking a few moments before I walk out of the door in the morning, or pull my car out of the driveway, have been a tremendous help in making my day, my activities and my relationship with Spirit/God so much more meaningful. You may just discover that it has been the most meaningful thing you have done all day.

Remember to breathe, be still, know that you are in the presence of God right now and always, for you can never be alone, for God is always right where you are at every moment. Stop, and turn within to meet God there. You will never be disappointed.

“Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart.’” (Psalm 111: 1)

One of my favorite songs that we sing at our SpiritSong Contemporary worship service is “How Great Is Our God.” It reminds me of a response I would always receive from a classmate of mine when I was in seminary. Whenever I would greet Rosalyn and ask how she was doing she would respond with “How great is our God!” She never failed to respond in this way and it always impressed me. She would begin to sing this song, I would join in, and pretty soon as other students arrived for class they too would pick up the song and we would all be singing at the top of our voices praising God.

As I became better acquainted with her I learned that she is a cancer survivor. She had been told that if she ever survived the cancer she would never walk again. To see her now you would never know she had been ill. Her husband, who was some years her senior, was in a nursing home and not expected to live very long. She prayed that he would last long enough to see her graduate, which he did. She knew she would be raising their 13 year-old son alone. The AME church had just assigned her to a congregation the current bishop had written off as dying, so why not give it to a woman minister? Nothing to lose. She was also taking a double course load so she could graduate with the rest of her classmates. And yet, whenever I asked Rosalyn how she was doing her response was always, “How great is our God!” Never have I seen such faith in a person. Never have I seen God move so beautifully through another’s life. She truly believes in what she proclaims, how great indeed is our God! She has turned her congregation around and it is growing. From such faith miracles are indeed born and thrive. She invited me to speak at her church one Sunday evening and I saw her faith and this beautiful church in action. I was inspired!

Throughout our lives we can proclaim the greatness of God and in doing so we can open our eyes to experience that power moving in all aspects of our lives.

Affirmation: “With my every breath today I proclaim, ‘How great is our God’.”